(Video) RiverTrek Part 1: Garden of Eden, Apalachicola River

Video: Kayaking in, and hiking around, the Apalachicola River.

Last year’s RiverTrek kicked off a year where we made the Apalachicola River and Bay a focus of the In the Grass, On the Reef (IGOR) project. As with this year’s video, last year’s was a two-parter. Watch Part 1, Days 1 and 2, here. Watch Part 2, Days 3 through 5, here. In Part 2, we looked at how low river flows last year precipitated the crash of the Apalachicola Bay oyster fishery. Shortly after, IGOR team member Dr. David Kimbro began investigating the oyster stocks more closely. You can follow that research here.

This video focuses on a 5-day kayak and canoe adventure down Florida’s longest river. RiverTrek is a fundraiser for the Apalachicola Riverkeeper. Riverkeeper staff and volunteers have been an immense help in producing our Apalachicola videos and in getting them seen. Thank you to Dan, Shannon, Tom, Georgia, Doug, and everyone else for allowing us to be part of the adventure.

Rob Diaz de VillegasWFSU-TV

Getting back on the Apalachicola River for RiverTrek 2013 felt a little bit like rekindling a fling that was cut short. Last year we had a couple of good dates. On the first one, we got coffee- kayaking from the River Styx to Owl Creek for 18 miles of getting-to-know-you. Then the second date, RiverTrek 2012, was a crazy all night- all week- affair where we did just about everything. Spelunking at Means Creek, climbing the tallest river bluff in Florida (Alum Bluff), climbing Sand Mountain- all while getting to experience the entire river channel. How do I follow up on that amazing date? By spending a lot of the next year in Apalachicola Bay following oyster research. Is that like dating someone’s sister?

I swear I was thinking about you the whole time I was with her. I can’t help but to think about you when I’m with her, especially with all that has happened over the last year. The truth is, I’ve thought about you quite a bit since I last saw you.

Aspalaga Blue Spring lies just a mile off of the Apalachicola River, at mile marker 98. From a sand bar on the west side, one would bushwhack a mile into the woods to find it.

And then, finally, there I was again for RiverTrek 2013. The Apalachicola seemed familiar, yet different, like a friend you haven’t seen for a little while. The face is the same, but a little older. The hair is different; they have gained or lost weight. After last year’s drought and record low flows, higher water this year made for a slightly different feel. As you can see in the video, we had choices to make about where we would sleep the first night, as the Alum Bluff sand bar was much more submerged than it was last year.

My fellow RiverTrekkers wait for me as I prepare to climb out of a cave on Means Creek. This group paddled to raise money for the Apalachicola Riverkeeper, an organization that advocates for Florida’s share of water in the Apalachicola/ Chattahoochee/ Flint basin. Over the last few decades, many have fought for the Apalachicola, which is downstream of the other two rivers.

It’s not an exclusive relationship. Just as I explore and make videos on Slave Canal or Lake Lafayette, many others have a relationship with the Apalachicola River. Many people have a much deeper connection with her than I do; I know my place.

The thing is, you worry us sometimes. I mean, you’re amazing. You’ve put up with a lot, and you’ve been mistreated. You’ve been starved and scarred with dykes. Yet you do so much for so many people.

A lot of the time, we don’t appreciate something until we’re in danger of losing it. The crash of the Apalachicola Bay oyster fishery was an eye opener for a lot of people as to how reliant the Bay is on the river flow. But this is a fight that has been waged for decades, between Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, and against the Army Corps of Engineers’ policies in managing the river and its flow. In this video, Part 1 of 2, we explore the area around the river, bushwhacking through the woods to clear, cool springs and climbing in the bluffs above the river for a better vantage point. Next week, in Part 2, we take a quick look at the decades long struggle with the Corps, and see that oyster beds aren’t the only habitat that need fresh water. And we kayak into the “quintessential” cypress/ tupelo swamp- Sutton Lake.

Music in the video by pitx and Cross(o)ver.

Learn more about the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, and the Garden of Eden Trail, here.

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About Rob

Rob Diaz de Villegas is a senior producer and editor for WFSU-TV. Rob covers ecology, managing the National Science Foundation funded In the Grass, On the Reef project. Previously, Rob produced and directed WFSU’s music program, outloud. He has also produced a number of ecology and music related documentaries and was selected the PBS Producers Workshop, a program that grooms up-and-coming producers to create programs for national broadcast.
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